For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 18, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Cisco System Inc. (CSCO), Logitech International SA (LOGI), Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ), 3Com Corp. (COMS) and Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

M&A in Videoconferencing Market

Merger and acquisition activities are heating up in the unified collaborative solutions market that provides videoconferencing. Prompted by the severe economic downturn, business enterprises on a global basis are restricting travel budgets to control costs. This makes high-definition telepresence solutions a cost-induced

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After the announcement of the much-hyped acquisition of 3Com Corp. (COMS), Hewlett Packard Co. (HPQ) has decided to beef up its education portfolio.   The three new easy-to-manage education solutions are tools for classroom teaching. The first is the HP MultiSeat, which enables a group of students to access a single host computer at the same time, thereby reducing the need to install additional host computers for uninterrupted data access. The second is the HP TeachNow, which helps teachers from non technical back grounds to address students using technology. Finally, HP SchoolCloud enables both students and teachers to access their applications and data from anywhere with the help of the Internet.   The rapid growth of the primary and higher education sector across the world is being driven by the increasing demand for skilled professionals, particularly in developing countries. This is a recession-proof industry and mostly remains ...

Merger and acquisition activities are heating up in the unified collaborative solutions market that provides videoconferencing. Prompted by the severe economic downturn, business enterprises on a global basis are restricting travel budgets to control costs. This makes high-definition telepresence solutions a cost-induced alternative in an increasingly interactive world. This market stands to gain in the near future since enterprises, governments, and educational institutions are increasingly recognizing the productivity-enhancing benefits of video conferencing. Yesterday, Cisco System Inc. (CSCO) raised its acquisition price to $3.41 billion for Tandberg ASA, the largest videoconferencing product maker in the world with around 35% market share. Cisco itself is a developer of high-end videoconferencing solutions, which mainly comprises custom-designed digital boardrooms for executives and boards to hold global meetings. The merged entity will definitely be a much bigger player in the industry. On Nov 10, computer accessories maker Logitech International SA (...

A rebounding dollar and persisting worries about the economy kept investors on a wait-and-watch mode and stocks fell broadly as weakness in energy shares, precipitated by reports of flush U.S. reserves, weighed on sentiments.  In a broad based decline, major stock indexes fell about 1% from their 13-month highs. 

The strength in US dollar, based upon its safe-haven appeal, undermined investors' appetites for riskier, high-yielding assets such as equities as upside guidance from DJIA components Wal-Mart and Hewlett-Packard failed to stem the retreat.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 94 points, or 0.9%, to close at 10,197.47.  The S&P 500 retreated 11 points, or 1%, to close at 1,087.24, after climbing to an intraday high of 1,101.97.  The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index retreated 18 points, or 0.8%, to settle at 2,149.02.  On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outpaced those that advanced in price by a four-to-one margin

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3Com Corp. (COMS) is in the news for winning new business deals across geographies. The first one of them is the “Brazil's Airport Administration" deal, where 3Com and its H3C enterprise networking solutions will provide the network infrastructure for the network upgrade project of 11 main airports in Brazil. Under this project, 3Com will be upgrading the wired and wireless network of the Airport, in order to support the increasing traffic of passengers and employees.  This upgrade of Brazil Airports is expected to improve the performance on data, voice and video applications used for flight information systems, air traffic control, surveillance and IP telephony systems substantially, while reducing the total networking cost considerably.

3Com had another win at the South African government’s Social Security Agency (SASSA), wherein SASSA has opted for a distributed network of H3C and 3Com-branded solutions to run its vast social security grant system across the

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Recently, Polycom Inc (PLCM) introduced two new infrastructure platforms for visual communication network solutions that will enable large organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, and healthcare companies to deliver enterprise-wide and business-to-business video services with state-of-the-art quality, scalability and reliability.  These products are (1) RMX 4000, a multipoint conferencing platform that simultaneously supports hundreds of HD video calls and more than a thousand video and audio conference calls (2) RSS 4000, a high-capacity recording and streaming server through which users will be able to easily and cost-effectively create and stream HD video and content using any telepresence and video conferencing systems.  Polycom is a leading solutions provider for video conferencing, with an estimated 30%-40% share of the market. Prompted by the severe economic downturn, business enterprises on a global basis are restricting travel budgets to control costs. This makes Polycom’s high-definition telepresence solutions a cost-effective alternative in ...

We upgrade our recommendation to Outperform for Polycom Inc. (PLCM) based on our assessment that the demand for the company’s unified collaborative communication offerings will continue to increase in the near future.  As a result of the severe economic downturn, business enterprises on a global basis are restricting travel budgets to control costs. This makes Polycom’s high-definition telepresence solutions a cost-effective alternative in an increasingly interactive world.   Polycom stands to gain as enterprises, governments, and educational institutions increasingly recognize the productivity-enhancing benefits of video conferencing. The company is a leading solutions provider for video conferencing, with an estimated 30%-40% share of the market. The Flagship RPX and TPX telepresence solutions continue to grow at a healthy rate. Newly launched RMX 2000 HD Videoconferencing Media Server version 4.0, Converged Management Application solutions, and Distributed Media Application solutions have attained encouraging market traction.   In addition, the company has ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

3Com Corp (COMS) 51job Inc (JOBS) Actions Semiconductor Co Ltd (ACTS) Aeropostale Inc (ARO) Companhia de Bebidas das Americas (ABV) American Italian Pasta Co (AIPC) American States Water Co (AWR) Amkor Technology Inc (AMKR) Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp (ANH) Asbury Automotive Group Inc (ABG) Ashland Inc (ASH) Associated British Foods Plc (ASBFY) AudioCodes Ltd (AUDC) Baidu Inc (BIDU) Banco Santander SA (STD) Bank of Montreal (BMO) Barnes & ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

3Com Corp (COMS) 3M Co (MMM) American Software Inc (AMSWA) Baidu Inc (BIDU) Buckeye GP Holdings LP (BGH) CA Inc (CA) Carlisle Companies Inc (CSL) CarMax Inc (KMX) Carter's Inc (CRI) Cheesecake Factory Inc (CAKE) Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.B) Coach Inc (COH) Ctrip.com International Ltd (CTRP) Digi International Inc (DGII) Dresser-Rand Group Inc (DRC) F5 Networks Inc (FFIV) First Financial Holdings Inc (FFCH) ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

3Com Corp (COMS) Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc (ACHN) Advanced Analogic Technologies Inc (AATI) Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc (ALSK) Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK) Ambassadors Group Inc (EPAX) The Bancorp Inc (TBBK) Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA) eHealth Inc (EHTH) El Paso Pipeline Partners LP (EPB) EMCOR Group Inc (EME) Genoptix Inc (GXDX) Guaranty Bancorp (GBNK) HMS Holdings Corp (HMSY) Hormel Foods Corp (HRL) Ikanos Communications Inc (IKAN) ImmunoGen Inc (IMGN) Investors Title Co (ITIC) Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc (JAZZ) Magellan Midstream Holdings LP (MGG) Marten Transport Ltd (MRTN) Matrixx Initiatives Inc (MTXX) Midas Inc (MDS) Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals Inc (MIPI) MWI Veterinary Supply Inc (MWIV) Novavax Inc (NVAX) Pacific State Bancorp (...